Real life stories – Nthombi Khoza
In my primary and high school days I always had that one person who I trusted with this secret. I enjoyed creative writing but it was a struggle, this friend would look at my writing and fix all the spelling and grammar errors before I could be confident enough to share with others. I had taught myself how to deal with my problem, how to study and process information and prepared myself to the stand up and read for the class. It was nightmare that came with being in school.
My biggest nightmare came when I got to varsity. My first year was what we could call normal “oh they are first years, they still need to adjust to the environment” and that seemed like a good reason for my failing and seeing
others kids around me fail. I must say it was confidence booster. Then came my second year. It was very clear that I was not coping. No amount of extra hours put into my study time would help, I would re – write my notes every
day. In high school I relied on my ability to remember words through repeating them and storing them in a photographic way but this time it was not helping. It felt like things were getting worse.
It got to a point where I started to believe I won’t pass anything at first attempt and it became my reality. In my second year I received two warnings from the university to either improve or face the reality of being cut out of school.
It was in 2016 that a lecturer advised me to go see the campus physiologist. I was able to talk to about my reading and writing problems and he then referred me to Sandra Stark from the Red Apple Dyslexia Association who finally gave me a medical diagnosis. I am Dyslexic. Even with this problem I still wanted to make something out of myself. I studied BA communication at North-West University which took me seven years to complete and have recently completed a higher certificate in Television
and Screen media at The Academy of Sound Engineering. I could have dropped out of varsity and given up on education but I didn’t. Erven my family members called me names. People I called friends and even some lectures told me to drop out because all they could see was money being wasted with every year I went back to school. One lecturer even asked me if thought anyone would hire me with such a long academic record. Another said to me if she was my mother she wouldn’t be wasting her money
on someone like me.
What I have learned with my journey is it’s never too late. We may have the same goals in life but getting there won’t be the same, you may be slower than others but that doesn’t make you a failure. Life is all about finding yourself and understanding yourself. There will allows be people with negative vibes and energies around you. How you react to them is what will determine your future.
When other kids read my diary and made fun of my writing and my spelling saying things like “you will never be able to finish school at this rate” and “I don’t even understand how you got to be in the grade you are in as it’s clear you cannot write is beyond me“.
If I had believed him and not the voice inside of me that wanted more in life, my life wouldn’t be worth living.
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